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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 17, 2016

QUESTION NO.9

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Chief Executive, in the light of concerns expressed regarding building standards across the country, if the Council has informed any resident or tenant where the Council has identified problems in dangerous or defective housing; to ask what steps have been taken to ensure that defective or non-compliant housing is not being built at present or into the future; and to ask if the Council are satisfied to rely on the 2014 Building Control Amendment Regulations (BCAR) or if further measures will be taken to ensure full compliance.

REPLY:

The Council has no record of informing any resident or tenant of dangerous or defective housing under the Building Control Act.

The 2014 Building Control Amendment Regulations (BCAR)  have been introduced to prevent a reoccurrence of the construction issues arising from defective materials such as pyrite, breaches of building / fire regulations, poor workmanship, a lack of accountability and certification, all of which have been the subject of high profile actions in recent times. The Regulations will change and improve building control by providing greater regulation to the construction industry in an effort to ensure that all construction works are carried out, completed and certified to an acceptable industry standard. The significant reforms impose a greater onus on the owner, builder and registered professionals before, during and after the construction works. The Council’s Building Control Section carries out routine visits (typically a half hour duration) on a proportion of all new buildings during the construction stage for which a Commencement Notice has been received, specifically those identified as posing the greatest risk of deviating from compliance with the Regulations. Any issues of noncompliance observed are brought to the attention of the developer’s representative on site. It is the joint responsibility of the Owner, Builder and Assigned Certifier to ensure that the works comply with the Regulations.

The 2014 Building Control Amendment Regulations, and its detailed operation, are monitored by the Building Control Management System, which is funded by the Local Government Management Board. There have been alterations to the detailed framework guiding local authorities to date in response to issues brought to their attention. It is anticipated that the BCMS will continue in its role of monitoring the system and will continue to implement refinements in response to inputs from individual local authorities. The Council is satisfied with the role of the Assigned Certifier under BCAR 2014 and the Council’s own visits as outlined above are a further means of ensuring compliance.